What is the first decision one makes after winning a $45.6-million lottery jackpot? Retire, of course.

At least that’s what Lethbridge couple Duane and Joanne Thompson decided last Thursday upon learning they were the winners of the Nov. 14 Lotto 6/49.

“It’s disbelief,” said Joanne, shortly after a news conference in Lethbridge. “There are some moments in the day that I think I’m starting to comprehend it. But most of the time I’m not.”

Most wouldn’t. After all, it’s a difficult number to wrap your head around. The $45.6-million prize is the third largest jackpot in the lottery’s history.

The two largest 6/49 lotteries were also won in Alberta: $54.3 million was shared among 17 oilpatch workers in Camrose in 2005; in 2009, 13 Edmonton Alberta Treasury Branch workers split a $49.8-million prize.

Granted, the Thompsons — he a now-retired auto mechanic, she a former house cleaner — don’t plan on hoarding their entire windfall. They plan to share the winnings with friends, a few unnamed charities close to their hearts, and family, which includes six grown children and five grandkids (and counting).

How do friends and family react to the news?

“They think they’re being punked,” said Joanne, 53. “But it is slowly sinking in little a bit and everyone is just over the moon.”

Once the media hoopla dies down, the couple plans to “take a big, long trip,” said Duane, 57. “This is going to be our honeymoon. Then we’re going to have a cooling down period and go from there.”

The winning numbers for the November 14 draw were 15, 20, 29, 36, 38, 42, and the bonus number 27.

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